Snap!
Suddenly—
Catarina Devon's body, which had been embedded into the ceiling of Infinite Hell, seemed unable to bear the weight any longer. With a cracking sound, the ceiling crumbled, and her figure broke free from it, plummeting down from a great height to land right at Rosen's feet.
"—Ahem!"
"Mmm…!"
Although her injuries made her cough up blood uncontrollably, Catarina Devon ignored the searing pain in her chest. Instead, she gave a series of bitter, unwilling, and self-deprecating laughs.
The all-out, desperate joint attack—met with nothing more than a single casual finger strike, like divine punishment descending from the heavens.
Such a result… she could not accept it.
"Why that expression?"
"You don't think you can defeat me, do you?"
"Don't you three already know I'm the wielder of the Arms-Arms Fruit?"
Rosen's gaze was calm as he looked down at Catarina Devon, who lay sprawled and trembling at his feet.
It was as if the chaos that had just erupted—like a prison beast rampaging out of control—had nothing to do with him at all.
But in truth—
That combined assault from thirteen prisoners, though condensed into one ultimate strike and unleashed from a distance, had been terrifying enough to shake the entire Infinite Hell.
Added to that was the awakening of Vasco Shot's Glug-Glug Fruit, the awakening of Catarina Devon's Mythical Zoan · Nine-Tailed Fox form and the Corrupt King quietly gather power into his Fist of the King.
Such a formation… truly a luxurious lineup of monsters.
Even Rosen, at his current level, faced with such an ambush without preparation, was forced to use everything at his disposal.
All Three Forms of Haki are in full force.
The third form of Susanoo shattered.
Armament Haki shaped into form, unleashing it to manifest the Totsuka no Tsurugi and Yata Mirror, along with volleys of Haki-forged arrows.
The Blut Vene Anhaben outer shell deployed, shielding him from the scorching inferno of a sky-reaching fire pillar.
Arms-Arms Fruit conjuring the Zanpakutō Tenkan, entwined with Conqueror's Haki, fired like a finger gun.
Only then did he shatter the siege of the Infinite Hell's rampaging prisoners, suppressing those monstrous criminals once more.
It wasn't that he had revealed every single card—there were still Zanpakutō forged through the Arms-Arms Fruit that the outside world had yet to witness.
But in terms of raw combat strength… what he had just unleashed was already near his full capacity.
If he revealed the last hidden Zanpakutō abilities he had kept in reserve, it would mean his life bar was scraped dangerously close to empty.
At the very least… The risk of bleeding out was real.
"Junior, in a sense, you just performed a spectacular one-against-sixteen battle!"
"To be honest, I originally thought you might barely survive this crisis—barely—and only at a great cost. I never imagined that, in such a situation, not only would you remain unscathed, but you'd even suppress the riot completely."
"But I suppose it's better this way. If something had truly happened to you… forget Zephyr-sensei, Sengoku alone would've rushed here from headquarters to skin me alive."
At this moment, Borsalino—still in full 'melon-eating spectator' mode—wandered over.
"Stop looking so surprised, will you?"
"Senior," Rosen said evenly, "Haven't you already seen the outcome with your Observation Haki?"
Rosen caught the flicker of surprise in Borsalino's expression.
"Don't think I don't know. Back then, Zephyr-sensei placed high hopes on you three admirals, pouring countless effort into training you. Do you really think he'd leave such obvious weaknesses in you?"
"Let Sengoku-sensei and Vice Admiral Garp combine their Conqueror's Haki to crush you—you've already undergone that exact training countless times back at the Academy."
"Aloof Red and the Demon's Heir are indeed formidable… but after rotting in Impel Down for so many years, they're relics of a bygone era. Could they possibly surpass the Admirals and heroes of their prime?"
Rosen laid Borsalino's intentions bare.
Yes—just now, Borsalino had been "pinned down" by Bullet and Redfield's overwhelming Conqueror's Haki… but it had been entirely an act.
Otherwise, Vasco Shot wouldn't have been so shocked to find Borsalino casually appearing beside Rosen at some point.
And yet, despite this, the ever-composed actor Borsalino hadn't lifted a finger in the fight.
His intention was obvious.
"I was just curious to see how strong you'd be at full force, junior," Borsalino said lazily.
"And besides, you can't just blame me."
"I'm not the only one who played you. Look at Zephyr-sensei—he stood right there through the entire fight without moving a muscle."
Seeing Rosen's half-smile, Borsalino knew his act had been exposed. So he immediately betrayed Zephyr without hesitation.
"I just had… an asthma attack," Zephyr said calmly.
Rosen's gaze shifted.
Before coming to Infinite Hell, he had personally seen Zephyr take a special asthma medication, just in case of emergencies.
Borsalino smirked. "Sharp eyes, aren't I?"
"Teacher Zephyr…" Rosen crossed his arms and looked at the older man helplessly.
"…Ahem, fine!" Zephyr finally admitted.
"I'll confess. Yes, I teamed up with Borsalino to play you just now. But it wasn't malicious."
"If Borsalino did it purely out of curiosity for your abilities, then I did it to better train you."
Rosen didn't reply—only smiled faintly.
"It's true," Zephyr said. "I've had to change my training plans for you several times, and each time I've realized I still can't keep up with your growth. The biggest reason is—I misjudged your strength."
"If I'd known from the start exactly where your strengths and weaknesses lay, I wouldn't have needed to revise my plans again and again."
He was being honest.
Yes—despite constant revisions, his training plans had still failed. Why? Because as a teacher, he had never truly understood how strong Rosen was when he went all out.
If you don't know your student's full power, how can you make a plan?
"It makes some sense," Rosen said at last, "but it's meaningless."
"…Why?" Zephyr frowned.
"What you've seen of me at full strength… is only me today."
"What about tomorrow? The day after? And the day after that?"
"Are you both planning to keep acting like this every single day?"
He glanced between the two men—Borsalino and Zephyr's expressions stiffened.
"It's useless," Rosen said. "Even if I told you every morning exactly how strong I was the day before, it wouldn't matter."
"The truth is—ever since I left the Naval Academy, stepped into Impel Down, and set foot in Infinite Hell from the very first day—there hasn't been a single training plan, not even from Zephyr-sensei, that could keep pace with me."
"Because I am far stronger today than I was yesterday… and I have no idea how much stronger I'll be tomorrow."
When he finished speaking, he didn't bother to look at the changed expressions on their faces.
Instead, he turned inward—focusing solely on the prompts flashing within his mind.
...
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